How Safe Or Unsafe Was the Easy Bake Oven?

Weird History Food is getting some hot and tasty history of the Easy Bake Oven. One of the most iconic toys in our history, the Easy Bake Oven has helped teach young children cooking and baking techniques. While the Easy Bake has had its share of highs and lows, nobody can deny its place in our cultural zeitgeist. Let's all have a nice treat with this video on the Easy Bake Oven.
#easybake #foodhistory #weirdhistoryfood

[@blunderingfool]

Children getting themselves hurt by sticking their hands into things that COOK stuff seems more like a parenting fail, they are a lesson to other kids at least.

[@Iconoclasher]

There's only two ways to learn. Listening to others or by practical experience. Considering the fact no one really listens, I guess the second option is more effective. Been there, done that! 😆

[@TheElusiveReality]

Yeah cuz why did they not immediately snatch the kid's hand out lmao, leaving a small child unsupervised with an oven is insane

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

Not a lesson to other kids. How many do you know that watch news or read newspapers? There's a responsibility for the makers of a toy that cook stuff to think that small kids simply don't know that a cooking oven can and will burn their hand. And, it is cruel, to say the least, to say that serious burns or even an amputation are a ""lesson.""

[@maenad1231]

Ikr First several times I used it with my sibling I was supervised and taught how to use it and given hard rules. (And my older sibling was old enough of a kid to actually remember and follow those rules and made sure I did so as well - I mention this because I heard parents say “but I DID teach my kid to use it properly” but the kid was alone and like 6 years old lol)_

[@monk607]

My dad would always say take the warning labels off everything and let the problem sorry itself out. I mean he had a point. Why does my curling iron have a "warning: external use only" tag? Who made that warning a requirement?

[@Sandman2007]

Most of us as kids eventually learned that certain things were hot. A stove or an EZ bake oven.

[@john_barnett]

yeah, now we all burn ourselves with vapes instead

[@matthew_natividad]

In some cases trail n error

[@fenfrostpaws2000]

Some kids are just too stupid

[@noelletakesthesky3977]

Correct, and there’s a huge problem now of kids never being allowed to sustain even minor injuries-they don’t learn limits, and so, when they take risks, they’re more likely to take BIG risks and get BIG injuries, A lot of us learned that hot metal out of something that cooks will burn by touching the edge with our fingers. Ever see a young adult who didn’t learn that try to grab a full pan from a over, drop it, and get VERY burned? I have, and it’s not pretty, and she was one of those people whose parents shielded her from ALL manners of minor injuries. I, as her adult roommate, had to watch her and teach her things she didn’t get to learn as a kid. Minor injuries act as bumpers for kids, teaching them their limits and consequences. Better to learn when they’re minor than when they’re so major that you’d better hope your roommate is home to call 911 since your full hands and legs are too burned for you to get to your own phone and dial for help.

[@TriegaDN]

I burned myself worse as kid using the toaster, pop tarts can come out hot enough to cause blister! I never heated pop tarts in the toaster since lol

[@Shazjgus]

My babysitter's daughter gave me a hand-me-down Easy Bake Oven (turquoise) when I was just shy of 5 (1971) I loved it. We couldn't afford the mix refills. I used Jiffy mixes instead. Back then they were 4 or 5/$1.00. I would use the pie crust mix to make cinnamon cookies. I was already using the real oven, but the EBO kept me busy when my mom didn't want me baking anything big.

[@2degucitas]

And it only required 2 light bulbs! Fairly simple and fun to use. I have one out in the garage, my kids used it.

[@janelleg597]

The refills were killer

[@michellehawkins1027]

We used jiffy or regular cake mixes as well.

[@dawnelder9046]

My mother bought regular cake mix. Put it into a container with a tablespoon.

[@BarbaraAdler-zj4zr]

Sounds like a great idea that I should of used back in the 1970s when I got my Easy Bake oven for Christmas ( jiffy)

[@TeamCat1128]

I had one as a kid in the 70s. LOVED IT! I made birthday cakes for my cats ( they didn’t eat them).

[@Monada79]

Omg that's cute! I wanted one but lived in the UK.

[@chrisvaughn5960]

Lol!😂

[@adoptdontshop77]

(they didn't eat them). Thanks for the laugh!!! :)

[@RurouniKalainGaming]

That's so sweet. I wonder that you did with them. xD Live a good life.

[@highriskgunman4181]

strange we had a cat and a rabbit can't remember why but they weren't a fan of them either.

[@Sacto1654]

I'm actually kind of amazed that the Easy Bake oven is still around in 2024.

[@lotgc]

Ikr? I was thinking the whole time "man, what a cool toy! It's a shame it's not around anymore" but it blew my mind when it turned out that it's still here! And just as strong as ever! 🤯🤯🤯

[@compassrose1466]

And the fact that they seem cheaper these days price wise! The fact it was 160 dollars in worth back then GOOD LORD when I was a kid it was like 80 dollars Edit: just kidding it’s because of Hasbro…go figure. Yeah it better become cheaper with how cheap their toys are.

[@no1hypocrite]

Yeah. This was an effective advertisement that we all willingly watched.

[@michellehawkins1027]

Right? They've taken most of the fun toys away, amazed they haven't pulled this one. Though it doesn't look as cool as it used to. I don't care for the weird shape of the new one.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

@@lotgc Being made out of plastic, it was never very strong. I wonder how may cases of cancer were caused by the plastic offgassing into the food and air...

[@milkbone69]

I had an easy bake oven in the late 70s- early 80s. I'm now an Exec Chef with 30 years experience.

[@rmac3217]

That's amazing, do the staff think it's kind of strange you use an easy bake oven though?

[@milkbone69]

@rmac3217 lol, the funny thing is the video talks about a reality show where the chefs use easy bake ovens to create gourmet meals

[@rmac3217]

@@milkbone69 In this market you might make money actually, just brand it as whole food vegan and serve it raw, shave on some truffle to finish.

[@dieseldragon6756]

I _didn't_ have an Easy bake oven when I was a kid. And now - 30 years later - Even my attempts to cook simple microwave meals wind up closer to _Cordoned Off_ than _Cordon Bleu_ ... 🥘☣😇

[@Kragith]

Of easy bake oven's?

[@nancyharman4795]

When i was 8 years old and my mother was in the hospital, i made my father's 44th birthday cake: a tiny single-layer frosted cake that had a line of 4 candles going vertically across the surface of the cake, and another line of 4 candles going horizontally. Together, they were supposed to represent "44" -- i didn't want to put two lines side by side in the same direction, because to my child's mind, it would look like 11! I sang "Happy Birthday" to my father and we divided that miniscule cake in half; gone in just a couple of bites! But what a memory... 🎂😁

[@cgraham6]

It still amazes me that light bulbs could generate enough convection heat to cook anything. They would blister your finger with direct contact, but they didn't heat up the air around them that much. Certainly not to cooking temps, and yet it worked.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Light bulbs are also what heats lava lamps to make them work. Somehow, they get hot enough to melt wax through glass.

[@c.w.8200]

I guess when they're enclosed the heat builds up, you just need to build a box around them.

[@cgraham6]

@@c.w.8200That makes the most sense, I think.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

You can buy halogen-bulb powered cooking plates! They can get to high temperatures fast! You can also cook with sunlight and mirrors.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

The light bulbs likely made the old toy safer. It would heat whole toy, touch it pull away, still at relatively low temperature of outside of toy. The new toy would likely only heat inside and have you touch hot filament directly, at much more dangerous temperatures

[@makingroceries77]

We had the turquoise EZ bake oven...we never got hurt. We used a 100 watt bulb too. Of course we also had lawn darts. I think maybe our parents were trying to kill us and make it look like an accident...😂

[@Iconoclasher]

Your good parents taught you how to think. Just as mine did. They instilled common sense. Something that's very uncommon today. 🤔

[@Verchiel_]

Common sense if you survive. Natural selection if you don't.

[@brucedavis1803]

Lawn darts?!!! Oh no!!

[@julieclark8992]

My family too

[@ALWilde-LibertyTree]

Nah just making sure nature is in proper working order 😅 Survival of the fittest!!!

[@joscelynvos5473]

I remember thinking this was such a cool toy as a kid. But the amount of work for super small cakes taught me that actually learning how to cook was the way better payoff.

[@WiseWomanLola]

I always wanted one as a child in the 60s. My parents couldn't afford it. I ended up learning to bake and cook in the kitchen with my mom and grandma. That was much more useful to learn skills and bond with my family.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Exactly! I've never had one or used one, but I always thought these things seemed unnecessary. Much better to cook supervised in the kitchen with real appliances.

[@nukaghoula]

i mean, nothing would be stopping the kids with the easy bake ovens from both playing with their fun oven toy and ALSO cooking with their parent/guardian/relative in the actual kitchen

[@nomoretwitterhandles]

Wow, y'all sure sound like bitter assholes lol! The point of the Easy-Bake oven was to make cooking seem more appealing to children who may not really understand it. It's the same reason children play with Legos to build things, instead of learning trigonometry to become architects...

[@jodiwest23]

I always wanted one as a kid. Luckily, I had a grandma that was all about letting me use the kitchen and experiment with recipes I found in books. I learned a lot about food and how to clean up after myself.

[@GoodJuju.8D]

I never got one from Santa either. (First request was 1970.) My ritzy spoiled neighbor had one, in her full play kitchen, and I was so envious. When my own daughter was 4 she received a full Mickey and Minnie Mouse play kitchen (minus the Easy Bake Oven.) from Santa. OmG, I was so excited for her, but she could care less. I almost bought an Easy Bake Oven to entice her to love the play kitchen as much as I had. I almost bought one. I'm glad I realized what I was trying to do. Anyway, the play kitchen was used by her little friends, her brother and his little friends, and their cousins. She played when they played, which was nice to see. Over the years I've often told my parents it's their fault I'm not a famous baker because I didn't get an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. One year my mom said that I'm not a famous Jordache model either, but I grew up just fine without them too. Thanks Mom. xo

[@aaroncutting]

My grandfather was a senior tooling engineer for Kenner - while he didnt work on the easy bake (to my knowledge) he did work on just about every movie action figure that Kenner made in the late 70s and into the 80s! I have some original board drawings from when he worked for Revell models too that are pretty neat!

[@zufalllx]

I would absolutely love to see some of that stuff

[@RawOlympia]

tell him thnx!!!!

[@teptime]

Oooooh...did he work on the Revell WEIRD-OH'S? I've been a fan all my life!

[@JennzOrs]

you should sell them while they're worth money lol

[@Powatodacarz1]

My baby sister had a couple of these growing up. One day, one of our dad's very expensive watches went missing, he filed an insurance claim for the loss and got a replacement watch. A few years later our mom was going through old toys and heard a large rattling in the Easy Bake oven, turned it sideways and out fell the watch! Baby sister still gets crap for that to this day

[@nrrork]

Did Dad get a free watch out of the deal or did he not? Perspective, people. 😊

[@Powatodacarz1]

@@nrrork it only cost him what the insurance deductible was, so I think it was a win.

[@dhrgkbqxtjr2743]

So one of your dad's lost his watch... Why didn't he borrow another watch from one of your other dads?

[@nomoretwitterhandles]

@@dhrgkbqxtjr2743 That would be funny if it weren't for the fact that you clearly don't understand grammar. OP had already said "dad's" with an apostrophe. Typically, an apostrophe before "s" means the noun has become possessive; in this case, "dad" is now possessive. To break down the phrase, that would be "possessed by my dad", i.e. "One of the very expensive watches possessed by my dad went missing", i.e. "One of our dad's very expensive watches went missing". If OP had said "dads" WITHOUT the apostrophe, then yes, it would imply that OP has more than one dad, as "dad" would've become plural instead of possessive. However, seeing as this is NOT the case, you're clearly just an ignorant ass!

[@centrion45]

​@@dhrgkbqxtjr2743if there were multiple dads the apostrophe would go after the s dads'

[@worawatli8952]

I think part of the reason older models were not as injury prone was because they looks like real thing but smaller, and the outer shell is hot to touch, the newer one looks more friendly and its exterior isn't as hot, so it was not a surprise that kids would stick their hand in them.

[@moosedawg71]

I also think a big part of that is parents were better at monitoring and teaching their children than they are now. Parents now buy a toy and then give it to their kid and just turn them loose. No instruction, no supervision. My mom made me set up mine on the kitchen table any time I wanted to use it so she could supervise and assist. Parents now would just let their kid do this stuff in their room without any idea what they were doing...until they burned themselves or the house burned down.

[@historianKelly]

@@moosedawg71 I can't speak to what goes on in other people's homes, but I will say that my sister and I were not allowed to touch our EZ Bake Oven unless our mom was there to supervise. This was in the late-'60s. Strangely, I was allowed to cook in our real kitchen from the time I was 7 only supervised by my 10yo brother. Go figure.

[@liquidpatriot4480]

Even as a kid I knew oven = hot. But with some kids darwinism.

[@jdb101585]

Exactly. Same thing with later playground redesigns; woodchips/gravel had more "injuries" (splinters and abrasions) and they could hurt, but weren't serious and made you pay attention; but rubberized solid surfacing resulted in fewer abrasions, but more broken bones! Typical overcorrection in trying to remove "hurt" which actually results in more "harm".

[@I_love_dr_stone]

do you know what the word exterior means ​@@liquidpatriot4480

[@ObscenelyMarvelous]

I was already a baker, I just wanted an easy-bake oven so I could make cake in my bedroom. The mixes were nasty because I was accustomed to making everything from scratch. The brand can't be faulted for dumb kids sticking their hands in an OVEN instead of using the included tool that's made for inserting and retrieving the cake.

[@markadams7046]

Whenever you make a toy, you need realize that kids will be kids and don't always do the brightest things, so I don't think it would take much for the company to realize a significant number of kids would be apt to stick their hands where they shouldn't. They really should have taken this into account with their design.

[@ReginaTrans_]

I remember being a little boy jealous of those oven toys that I couldn’t have cause I wasn’t a girl, but when I saw how disgusting they looked I was relieved and sticked to the milkshake grinder that came with my cousin’s Barbie yatch

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

Yeah, that sounds like a parental problem, not the toymaker's. If a kid is young and dumb enough to stick their hand inside maybe their parents should be helping?

[@ObscenelyMarvelous]

@@markadams7046 When parents let their child play with an OVEN without help, knowing that their child isn't aware of the potential hazards, it's obvious what's likely to occur.

[@ObscenelyMarvelous]

@@ReginaTrans_ Really any cake batter and frosting could be used. The mixes were low quality, even worse than a standard popular mix when compared to homemade. The easy-bake was a fun novelty that I used occasionally. Normally I'd just go in the kitchen and make a full sized cake.

[@TheJillianRussell]

I was an 80's kid, and wanted an easy bake oven but never had one. You can bet when I had my first kid, a girl, I bought her the purple one shown in the vid. Thats one of the best things about having your own kids; I got to re-live my childhood playing with the toys I never got to have, with my own children. So awesome! My kids are adults now, and I just finally gave away her easy bake this past year. I'm sure i'll wish I kept it for my future Grandchildren 😮😢

[@michellegussow]

I wanted one so badly as a child When I would tell my mom I wanted one she would say, "No you don't."

[@van3158]

Shitty parents suck

[@mlsaulnier]

I feel your pain fellow Michelle

[@freden9234]

Me too! To make matters worse, my parents bought me the mixes for Christmas - I had no way to bake them.

[@mlsaulnier]

torture! @@freden9234

[@lucaskp16]

@@freden9234 yes in the normal oven. never had or knew of this toy yet I make desserts since I was 8 I think using the normal oven. got burn several times and burned a lot of things when I forgot them in the oven.

[@ripleyandweeds1288]

i always love the topic of easy bake's safety because people will imply that the unpredictability and stupidity of children causing them to stick their hands into a thing that is hot is somehow the fault of the people who made the damn toy

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

Issues came after major design change, so yes it is due to the toy, no matter how much boomer complaints you throw around

[@monicascott2354]

​@mipmipmipmipmip 🙄 boomer 😒

[@user-lx1pe5up7l]

@@mipmipmipmipmipum no because there was a spatula made so that you wouldn’t use your hands. There were multiple warnings and parents were supposed to watch their kids. Like you can’t blame the candle for catching your house on fire if you tip it over.

[@nanananananananana00]

@@mipmipmipmipmip the box also says to supervise your kids, the fault can be put on anyone if you twist it right

[@mrb692]

In this case though, I can see a justification to blame Hasbro. The older models had no direct access to the heating elements (which were also covered in glass, because light bulb), while the new ones allowed direct contact with the exposed heating elements. While it’s unreasonable to try and bubble wrap society, given the increase in injuries that happened after the redesign, I think it’s safe to say Hasbro could have done better

[@iridiumscribe4915]

My step sister had one of these in the nineties. The treats it made were legit. This oven and Password Journal were some of the coolest toys I've seen from my childhood.

[@raggedyanarchist]

My sister and I had a knockoff! My dad called it the Simple Cook Range, but danged if it wasn't WAY more legit than my rich friend's on-brand model. Actual little elements in it where hers had lightbulbs. When she got cake mix refill packs, we'd cook 'em at my house. I swear nothing before or since has ever tasted as good as a tiny brownie you baked yourself, shared between friends.

[@trishoconnor2169]

Your dad told you the toaster oven was a toy, didn't he?

[@raggedyanarchist]

@@trishoconnor2169 Haha. I don't think you're far off. Like, it was tiny and had decals on it, and I think it must have been marketed as a toy at SOME point, but I'm almost positive it had to have been some second-hand thing from an earlier decade... back when there weren't so many regulations about not marketing tiny, functional toaster ovens to children, ya know?

[@user-wi9hv2pb2q]

the day my friend and I got a tin cook pot and made a fire with sticks lol.

[@StarsandBarsRecords]

@@trishoconnor2169 You guy's interaction made me LOL

[@lawrencetalbot8346]

My sister got one of these as a kid and it was awesome. My brother and I built a fort in our backyard and it used to be no girlz allowed until she got the easy bake oven. Then the girls were invited if they made us snacks. That thing brought the whole neighborhood together.

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

Looks like someone else ran into the duplicate comment gitch

[@elainejames6632]

I got my EZ bake for Christmas when I was 6 or 7. When we opened the box, the mixes that came with it were not inside. Fortunately, the variety store my mom bought it from was opened on Christmas day. The owner was always nice . He was upset about my missing mixes and gave me a twelve pack of mixes plus four for free. I've shared this story with my children and others over the years. I know they're tired of hearing it, but that was great customer service 😊

[@judyholiday1794]

I remember getting an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas..I believe it was in 1971 which made me almost 5 years old..I have this blimp of a memory sitting at our kitchen table on Christmas night with my mother showing me how to bake my first cake..Just another happy memory from my childhood thank you for sharing these trips down memory lane..

[@morgandria]

I inherited my Mom's OG turquoise Ez-Bake in the 80's and I adored it. Got hotter than the surface of the sun but those cakes were great.

[@Jane-West]

That's the one I had! Great memories!

[@selalewow]

I burned my fingers a few times but loved this thing in the 70's.

[@kit2635]

I loved mine, but also had a habit of eating the batter straight up… so the oven was rendered useless pretty quickly.

[@gatocomtesao4573]

😆😆😁🤣 omg that's hilarious ❤

[@kingnekogon]

"You can make a food truck out of this." Funny thing is, my street did back in the 90s. One Easy Bake, one McDonald's "apple pie maker", one Mcdonald's Ice Cream Maker, and a few others I forget what they did specifically. We ran a phone-order snack delivery service on our bikes. Paid for a few video games that way.

[@TheTuttle99]

That is so awesome. Simpler times man, I miss them very much.

[@user-wh5ir4fo4r]

At least your McDonald's ice cream maker worked....

[@hahahajackmyswag]

But why are you lying? I lived in your block and all I recall is you getting swirlies and wedgies lmao

[@user-bo1rj2xu2s]

I LOVED my Easy Bake Oven. I had the original in the blue color. I grew up in a very middle class home and I'm shocked at the cost. Thanks Mom and Dad!

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

The "inflation" adjustments are usually way off.

[@Paren]

I absolutely loved my Easy Bake Oven as a kid (early '90s)

[@DH-.]

I liked coming over and playing with your stuff

[@ReginaTrans_]

I’m glad you girls were chill in the 90s, I wasn’t a girl but I was an extremely effeminate boy, and ALL the girls would sense that somehow, and of course was never rejected at girls games and gatherings even if we just met, I noticed you would reject boys playing with you just like they would reject girls in boys games, but with me that wasn’t the case, our Barbie adventures and kitchen games were epic, one time a boy asked me to let him play so I asked the girls and they agreed just cause I was inviting him, but he only played with Ken anyway LOL, I was so excited to have a boy playing at the dollhouse though, it was a first !!!! boys really didn’t care, this guy did it cause he felt the pressure from me LMAO, but he did wanted to play I swear, anyways, I wasn’t that rejected from boys games, the thing with boys was that I couldn’t play football or wrestling things and they didn’t quite understand it but at the same time they knew I was a delicate boy so they wouldn’t insist, not sure how were the kids in the 80s and before but in the 90s they were very comprehensive

[@melissaharris3389]

I enjoyed mine too.

[@wintersprite]

I had a ‘90s one too. It was fun, although my pans got rust on them which I didn’t like. We also have mice that get in our house and they liked to chew holes into the mixes where we kept them.

[@carLows07]

I never in a million years would think, KZbin would recommend me a video about the easy bake oven! And how hooked I got watching this 😅 got my follow 👍

[@user-wh5ir4fo4r]

I love this comment.

[@dxcSOUL]

So uh... Thought this video would be about how dangerous this toy was lol

[@pamelamays4186]

Let us not forget the Suzy Homemaker oven. Also the Suzy Homemaker accessories. The blender, the washer/ spin dryer and the vanity.

[@CatMom-uw9jl]

I had the Suzy Homemaker washing machine! I used to wash doll clothes in it, with a tiny blob of detergent from the big bottle in the laundry room.

[@tiffanyray5360]

Please cover the Snoopy Snow Cone machine

[@jewel65]

My ice would start to melt coz I wasn't strong enough to do it quickly 😂

[@juneyshu6197]

I have one, in a box. Gotta find that...

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

It's the yum yum fun that is cool and keen, and it's name is the Snoopy Snow Cone Machine. You put ice cubes in, and get a snow cone out. Yum yum fun is what it's all about.

[@GeeEm1313]

Aww, man. We had one of those.

[@L33TRedNinja]

Holy crap, I had one of those! 😃

[@corkbulb2895]

I had one of these as a kid in the mid 90's. It never worked right. We used the thing exactly as directed, but the cakes never cooked through in the time indicated by the instructions. And leaving them in longer would burn them. Also, the big problem with it was it only came with a very small amount of actual food to bake, so it was a constant mission to get my parents to buy more junk for the thing to cook with. And, like real baking, it was an epic mess! Especially considering it was made for young children. The thing literally encouraged kids to play with food. I think it was really cool but never lived up to the hype in my opinion. And no I never burned myself with it. The light bulb was deep inside. Couldn't even fit my hand in there to touch it and you needed a screwdriver to get to it. Don't know how it got such a bad reputation for burning kids. Maybe from older models.

[@Sniperboy5551]

I don’t blame the oven itself, I blame *really* dumb kids and bad parenting 😂

[@ithydoodles]

It's a model from around 2005 or so that had a hole so big even adults could fit at least half their hands in it. I usually used box cake mix or cookie mix for my easy bake oven. We couldn't easily afford easy bake oven mixes. And it's not like my small town sold them either way.

[@melissaharris3389]

I had one in the 90s. I remember the bulb needing to be replaced frequently and sometimes not cooking correctly. That's what you get with cheap lightbulbs. I also remember my mom getting upset about the mess. My sister and I were only allowd to use it in the kitchen and had to wash up ourselves. I, too, remember begging to get more over priced mix packets. My mom just divided full size cake mixes into sandwich bags for us to use.

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

Seems like they could add a trap door or some other design to stop kids from sticking their hands inside. I noticed the older models were a bit longer, so even with small hands, it's not easy to stick your hand far enough in to touch the bulbs.

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

Maybe your parents thought it would be safer with a 60 watt lamp. Has to be 100. I knew two kids that had them and they worked like a champ.

[@cannonrange9977]

I'm only halfway through this documentary and it's SO witty, cheeky, and delightful I had to pause to let ya'll know you are my new favorite channel!

[@samuelgates5935]

I wanted one sooo bad but my dad said "NO! It's for girls." Yet, I baked real cakes in our oven all the time back then. I got racing car sets. From the "Johnny Lightning 500" race set to the "Sizzler Fat Back race set with the "Juice Machine." I had tons of fun though, still eating my real cakes from our real oven!

[@pamelamays4186]

Being an aspiring pastry chef, I find this episode interesting, informative and fascinating.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

I wanted an easy-bake oven so badly as a kid, but they're not common in New Zealand. Instead my mother pointed out we had a perfectly good real oven I was welcome to use, she'd just doing the unloading.

[@a-b0t633]

I had the first Hasbro version and I miss it so much. The little cakes hit different from a full size cake slice. And making it yourself at an age when you normally depended on your parent's involvement made it taste so much better. And baking in my bedroom added a unique element to the experience.

[@asprywrites6327]

This was a top notch production, guys. Thanks.

[@gordtron]

they should to a street vendor special edition for pretzels and other great street food. make it look like a food cart that bakes, broils, and boils.

[@BeyondDaX]

and have it be made at four times the cost because all the stuff/maketing involved.

[@gordtron]

@@BeyondDaX just have it next to the easybake on the toystore shelf with some smiling kid broiling some hotdogs for his grandpa eating a hot pretzel and let the magic of the internet pay for the ride.

[@tetrie]

so how unsafe is it

[@Backroad_Junkie]

I grew up in a time of EZ Bake ovens, Jart Lawn Darts, bicycles without helmets, climbing sets in playgrounds with asphalt as the ground around it, BB rifles to shoot your eyes out, toxic chemistry sets... And I'm still alive. Amazing, when you look back on it, lol....

[@Iconoclasher]

Not to mention the fact we chewed on toys made with leaded paint, drank from garden hoses and broke arms when we fell out of trees. In spite of that we created the greatest technological civilization in the planet's history. 😅

[@Backroad_Junkie]

@@Iconoclasher Oh yeah, and cars without seatbelts. Keep forgetting about that one. 😁

[@WobblesandBean]

Yeah, of course you look back at it fondly. YOU survived.

[@user-ym4xy6us5e]

​@@WobblesandBeanIt weeded out all the non-hackers who did not pack the gear to survive in life. Good riddance to them.

[@MosukaDreamer]

Just your local government trying to thin out the population. 😂

[@FernandaHaiabe]

My best friend and I always wanted one as a kid, so when we saw one at kids r us we immediately bought it. We were 28 and 23 at the time 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Truckngirl]

That Kenner commercial brought back fond memories. I was six years old when the EZ Bake Oven first appeared. I wanted one, but it was too expensive for my parent's budget.

[@robinminn271]

Same here

[@annikboyer3395]

Memories are always nicer than the reality. Of course, I had one as a child. I just wish to have used it more often.

[@dancoroian1]

I had a Chuck E. Cheese branded "pizza oven" version as a kid...thinking about it now, it's kind of crazy that incandescent lightbulbs were so inefficient that they could just sort of incidentally be turned into an oven, just from the unwanted 'side effect' of their typical function 🤣 I wonder how many fires got started from something accidentally touching a lit bulb? Over the century+ that incandescent bulbs were widely used...?

[@danielmarcus420]

When I moved into my current home 4 years ago, all the bulbs was incandescent so I was replacing them all. The kitchen had two 100 watt bulbs that was touching and had burnt the ceiling. Was happy to be changing those bulbs.

[@dancoroian1]

@@danielmarcus420 I don't think I've ever used an 100W bulb in any of the homes I've lived in...seems excessive, especially for such old overheated technology!

[@nicehorn5250]

The type of bulb you can start to hear after awhile 😂

[@20alphabet]

Found the _idiot section._

[@dancoroian1]

@@20alphabet ...excuse you?

[@EmpressNatiLocs]

This was such an epic episode! I enjoyed it sooo much!❤ I had an easy bake oven in the 80s and loved it!

[@SunnyAndShare]

Me and my sister used to use our EZbake on our bedroom floor on the fuzzy shag carpet, and sometimes even on our bed. In retrospective, I don't know what we thought we were doing. But we somehow never got any burns and never burned the house down. The fact that we made it to adulthood is either proof divinity or the EZbakes weren't THAT dangerous

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

I'm more shocked that after 12 years of free school, you start sentences with "Me and my sister" instead of "My sister and I."

[@SunnyAndShare]

@@wintersbattleofbands1144 "Me and my" is acceptable in an informal context, which this definitely is. 12 years and free schooling, though, those are some interesting assumptions. Word to the wise, try not to talk about things you don't understand. It only makes you look like an idiot.

[@maggiemea]

I still have my Holly Hobby Easybake oven. Loved it so much I’ve kept it all these years ♥️

[@tracyallshouse2730]

The toys of this era were and are amazing! 👏 We learned so much with these including but not limited to how to read recipes, bake times and increased attention spans. Love educational toys‼️🤗

[@kiniburk]

We had both an Easy Bake Oven and Creepy Crawlers in the house when I was a kid, I don't remember any getting hurt.

[@NewMessage]

Nothing like that 'straight from the bulb' smell, right?

[@dd7521]

😂

[@chrismayer3919]

I always liked cooking; got a D- in sewing but an A at cooking in Home Economics (even if my cakes looked like the fractured surface of Mars!)

[@ginlee42]

I had 2 easy bake ovens when I was around 5-8 years old. One was nicer than the other. I never stuck my fingers, hands, nor anything other than food products in it. My dad loved my cookies, brownies, and lil cakes. These ovens taught me how to be responsible in the kitchen.

[@catflower_queen7497]

This is very interesting! I had one of these as a kid. It was fun, but then I learned how to bake in our real oven, so I honestly didnt use it too much after going through all their mixes that came with the original purchase. I only actually remember buying refills once.

[@PuppyLuv2504]

I loved mine! I thought baking with a lightbulb was hilarious, even as a kid! I still love baking!!! I kind of want one of the new ones, not gonna lie.

[@elegant_evil5927]

I had the 2006 model, no idea there was a recall. I loved that thing. Burnt the hell out of my hands a good number of times, definitely taught me caution young lol

[@Vexcenot]

How were you supposed to use it without getting hurt?

[@panther105]

This was amazingly well researched. Scary memories. !!

[@BeckyKyser]

I had a Easy Bake Oven in the 60's. I never got hurt. Later in life I became a chef for ,35 years. I believe it was the oven that lead me that way.

[@kaylo9600]

*I had the Holly Hobbie brand oven. It looked like an old fashioned wood cookstove. I loved it!!*

[@fourrpaws]

Great video. I’d like to see one about Creepy Crawlers or Incredible Edibles. Heck, maybe even Captain Action! These were the toys of my childhood.

[@juneyshu6197]

I can still smell the creepy crawler stuff!

[@Sunfell]

I had the Creepy Crawlers set. Made all sorts of crazy hybrid bugs. And I can still remember what overcooked 'plastigoop' smelled like.

[@101Volts]

Creepy Crawlers go back a good way. Although I had them in the 90s too, my Uncle also had them in either the later 50s or the 60s.

[@User14816]

My little brothers had Incredible Edibles. Bleh ..they tasted terrible. They also got Creepy Crawler.

[@DeltaDemon1]

My cousinette had an EBO and when I visited I used it to heat up cookies (any excuse to eat cookies). It taught me that light bulbs are warm and then hot and always use oven mitts. Good life experience for a 5 year old.

[@anseatery]

Wow this is so nostalgic! Thank you for this video ❤

[@jeffmckee1825]

Sister and I had one in the late 60's. Loved it! The national Toy Hall of Fame is located at The Strong Museum of Play here in Rochester , NY.

[@natewrites7803]

I remember the turquoise model. I never got one, but I did get a Coke themed pop dispenser where you put the glass bottle of Coke inside and pull a tiny handle dispense it.

[@snowwhite5382]

😊 I made hundreds of 'creepy crawlers' from the creepy crawler insect/bug maker. I loved my Easybake oven and the little boxes of mixes.

[@OuidaEvans-xs5pg]

I had my Easy Bake Oven in the 60’s. I loved it! Baked for my Dad & siblings. I never stuck my fingers into the “oven” door, so I never got burned.

[@monkeygraborange]

My sister had the original turquoise oven, and i used to love letting her bake snacks for me!

[@genie2348]

Awwwww, memories...when I was a little girl sometime in the late 60's (I don't remember the exact year) I received an aqua colored Easy Bake Oven. One of my favorite Christmas gifts ever. I still remember the excitement of baking my first little cake... And yes, those 100 watt light bulbs were HOT!

[@joanmorton9844]

I had one of the original Easy Bake ovens. My parents gave it to me for Christmas. I had so much fun making cakes and cookies for my family.

[@singing-bird]

I had one of the original ovens in yellow. I loved it! Today, some of my granddaughters are enjoying their contemporary ones.

[@shepherdsvoice3245]

Had one of these ovens! Worked great! My favorite cake to bake was yellow cake and always used Jiffy cake mixes!

[@Someone-kg8qf]

I use for those for my toaster oven. I bought a set of toaster size pans and it's fun, I live alone and don't need or want a full size cake usually.

[@ygbgforever]

I had one of the late 80s early 90s versions. I remember liking the chocolate cake and burning myself on the light bulb, it was hella hot 😂

[@MarcStollmeyer]

OMG core memory unlocked my sister and I had a Queasy Bake oven and Mixer! I had completely forgot about that!

[@elizabethlusher9667]

My dad (the cook in our house) always made sure I had a serving of dough or batter for my easy-bake oven. Good memories!

[@neveza]

As a kid, I was always jealous of girls having the easy bake oven. I wasn't allowed to use them out of gender crap. I remember the boy's version on commercials but never had it, I don't think. I do remember something sort of similar but it made inedible rubber bugs

[@jpgabobo]

My older sister had the oven and the rubber bug mold machine, I think it was called "Creepy Crawlers" and it had round metal disks with creature molds that you squirted colored goo in. The metal molds would heat up to set the 'rubber' and I remember many burns and desperately wanting one, but of course by the time I was old enough it was forbidden, and pulled from the market.

[@anna9072]

I had the creepy crawler thing, or maybe one of my siblings. We all had fun with it.

[@Electrolux219]

Hey same here! I remember being kinda frustrated that the “guys toys” where all these useless gross-out novelties while girls got to like actually cook stuff. I just wanted cake dammit, why can’t guys like cake?

[@ToyasTales]

I burned myself many a time on my Easy Bake Oven, but I loved that toy so much. Probably my favorite toy from childhood

[@ccmarie95]

I never had one but my neighbor did. We had so much fun baking with it!!

[@beneachus4901]

I was wondering if they’d show the queasy-bake!! That was my big present one year for Christmas! I loved that thing!

[@annalisette5897]

A friend had one in the mid-60's. The little cakes did not cook in the time allotted. They were still under-done when they appeared to be mostly cooked. The little cakes also had an odd flavor. Lots of processed foods back then had those odd tastes. Maybe they included odd preservatives or other chemical additives to aid the so-called cooking process. I got the idea those gizmos could not really cook anything. I am very surprised they are still on the market and that the quality seems to have improved.

[@shipped_my_pants_3000]

Weird History TOYS channel PLEASE

[@leroybrown6650]

YES

[@breestella]

This brought me wayy back - my best friend had an easy bake oven, she would call me up on the landline “Bree come help me make a pie!!” I would RUN to her house 😂❤️ glad to be reminded of those simple times.

[@ms55938]

I found my easy bake oven in the local dump back in the late 60's when I was just a kid. I brought it home, cleaned it up and dad replaced the bulbs in it. It worked great. The cake mixes they sold in the store made for the oven were expensive for what little you got, so mom bought me some of the small boxes of Jiffy cake and frosting mixes at the local grocery. They worked great and you got a lot of little cakes from just one box.

[@gatocomtesao4573]

That was a genius idea ❤

[@kaiser1one]

Easy Bake and Creepy Crawlers; us kids used heat a lot. Never got the urge to stick my hands inside them, though

[@eagleeye2300]

I loved making Creepy Crawlers and used to sell them at school, lol

[@andandand12]

you didn’t really talk about the safety of the toy! the video was ten minutes of history and two minutes of talking about kids got their hands stuck in one specific model of the toy. i was hoping for more information on the mechanics of the toy!

[@zanecarpenter2441]

I wanted an easy bake oven when i was a kid, however i thought they were just for girls so i never asked for one. Fast forward 20 some years later, and i was given a small camping oven after winning some competition that was held at my workplace. I call it my hard bake oven. It's so awesome.

[@kmo3811]

I had one in the 60's and it actually worked! Amazing how well a lightbulb could bake something.

[@williamborges3914]

Indeed, EZ Bake was highly successful and long-lived. However, it wasn't the first of its kind. The 1950s had the Little Lady Electric Toy Stove Oven by Empire along with a few knock-offs.

[@jemm113]

Isn’t that the one that got a whole TV show to advertise it and it sparked a bunch of children’s television reform?

[@charlynegezze8536]

YES!! I had one around 1956 when I was 5. My parents also gave me a plastic tea set that I used to bake my imaginary cake and cried when I opened the oven to see that the plate had melted. 🤣 By 1960 I was baking for real.

[@jhonsiders6077]

They had a toy oven in the 30s that had a real coiled heating element in t ! Look it up on here was rescue and restore I think. It was all metal he added a grounded cord to it to earth the metal toys cabinet. Before it was not ! Kids were taught by their parents so much better common sense than now days . Reminds me of dummy bars on a lawn mower and chute deflectors and the one on the back of a mower we never had that when I was little I was taught to keep my feet and Hands away from it when was running ! And not to put gas in it when was hot !

[@WobblesandBean]

Hey, it ain't about who did it first, it's who did it best.

[@rustyhowe3907]

@@jhonsiders6077 Reminds me so much of the wretched child locks on cars nowadays, never needed one as a kid in fact I never had the idea of jumping out of a moving car in the first place. Nowadays the passenger doors won't open from the childlock and I'm trapped inside until someone opens it up for me which is no doubt *faaaaaantastic* if you ever need to escape from a burning/wrecked vehicle.

[@Puppetgirl93]

I used to have an Easy Bake oven as a kid

[@GoonieLord]

Remember seeing this decades ago on my ancient TV sitting on my old wooden floor. Good times

[@AidenRKrone]

I had a Queasy Bake oven when I was around 10 years old. I used it exactly two times before it was boxed up and stored upstairs. It was years later that my mom found it while cleaning stuff out and sold it at a garage sale at my grandma's house.

[@loriloristuff]

We used the neighbor girl's a lot. It was really hard to burn yourself on the light bulb. My brother's Creepy Crawlers creator was hotter, and actually burned me more than EZ Bake. When our friend ran out of mixes, we used Jiffy mixes. They did indeed bake, as long as everybody had enough patience to wait on the lightbulbs.

[@MyButtercup]

Creepy Crawlers! They did get very hot. Remember the smell?

[@kevin4gwen]

I owned one But i wasn't allowed to use it without parental supervision, though ... which is how it should be !!!! After a while, I started to get bored and actually got my mom to let me into the kitchens to use the real oven 😂😂😂😂😂

[@schizoidboy]

As a guy when I was a kid I liked the idea of having a device that could cook me a cake. When it came to getting the easy bake oven for Christmas I just got the pans and the mixes, perhaps just as well because that meant my mom would do the cooking.

[@rwssinor]

I got one in 1964 and never had an issue …. Loved it and the Betty Crocker cookbook for Boys and girls

[@tracyosick1099]

I loved my Easy Bake oven, which I had in the early 80s. And sure, I burned my hands multiple times. All my friends did, too. It was an OVEN, people, and it did get insanely hot! But it was always fun. And frankly, nothing much has changed - I still burn myself on the real oven from time to time. Hot things find a way to sizzle you once in a while, and I’m ok with that.

[@elizabethsohler6516]

Well stated.

[@double_slime]

kids nowadays are so sheltered and prevented from minor injuries that they grow up into adults who don't know the difference between a hot and cold stove top. These people are more likely to take big risks unknowingly because they never learned first hand that pain and injury is a consequence.

[@mlsaulnier]

I would have given my left arm for an Easy Bake Oven as a kid in the 1970's. I loved those little boxes of cake mix.

[@melaniesmith1313]

I had an Easy Bake Oven in the mid 1960s. I used it often. I never got burned. I followed the instructions.